Bohemia Cafe reopens with big Noise

The Bohemia Cafe is probably the only place in Edmonton you can hear “Noise.” Not noise, but Noise – a peculiar and tiny genre of music more free than free jazz, crazier than thrash metal. Some call it “experimental sound art,” because “music” doesn’t quite fit. Someone even made a documentary about Noise, featuring the […]

Laughtoberfest Week in Edmonton – from comedy fest to William Shatner

There’s something funny going on here. The Edmonton Comedy Festival with Joe Flaherty, a new comedy-Western feature film set in Alberta, the Deaner from FUBAR (right) performing with his band, Emo Phillips appearing at Yuk Yuk’s, Jon Dore at the Comic Strip and Sir William Shatner at the Shaw Conference Centre on Sunday adds up […]

SURREAL SATURDAY: Organic produce, protest rally in downtown Edmonton

Finally, a good use for City Hall – a farmer’s market. That’s the obvious joke after attending the City Market’s winter season opening inside our city’s headquarters. The next step will be to use all that space and natural light for a hydroponic greenhouse to raise money for the new arena. Home grown. Open markets […]

Selena Gomez loves like a love song at Rexall Place

From “Who the fleck is Selena Gomez?” to a sold-out Rexall Place on Sunday, it’s been a fast ride to superstardom for Justin Bieber’s girlfriend. At this rate, Justin Bieber will soon be known as “Selena Gomez’s boyfriend.” And let’s not even discuss the inevitable duet tour or the Biebelena Theme Park in Florida, opening […]

USS, Death from Above in Jingle Bell Rock doubleheader at the EEC

Stop it already with the holiday creep! It’s not even Halloween and we’re already thinking about Christmas. The signs are inevitable – and one is the announcement of the annual Jingle Bell Rock event for charity. This year’s bash for a good cause is a doubleheader. The first show features Toronto’s dance-rock outfit Death from […]

GIGGLE CITY: Lorne Elliott goes madly on in all directions

The combination of the words “CBC” and “comedy” does not always elicit respect in stand-up comedy circles. Does Lorne Elliott care? He doesn’t appear to. One imagines that nothing fazes this guy. The smart and soft-spoken 58-year-old comic remains a popular draw even five years after his national CBC radio show “Madly Off In All […]

REVIEW: Bashir Lazhar a lot more than another ‘To Sir, With Love’

Hot off a successful summer that included the Edinburgh Fringe – where lead Michael Peng earned a nomination for Best Actor – and dates in Kiev and Antwerp, Wishbone Theatre’s production of Bashir Lazhar returned home for a short stint of shows at the Avenue Theatre that ended Oct. 16 Detailing the experiences of an […]

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast coming to the Jube in January

Can’t go to Broadway? Then Broadway – the Great White Way, Iowa on the Hudson, name your Broadway nickname – can come to you! The aptly named Broadway Across Canada will bring Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to the Jubilee Auditorium Jan. 3-8, 2012. The smash hit musical – aren’t they all – tells the […]

LitFest keeps it real life – or thereabouts

Do bad fiction authors get more respect than good non-fiction writers? Certainly not at Edmonton’s LitFest, Canada’s only literary festival dedicated exclusively to non-fiction, which runs from Oct. 12-23. Will Ferguson, who returns to LitFest and gives one of its opening presentations on Thursday, Oct. 13 at the St. Albert Public Library, says there’s historically […]

LIT: Thiessen nominated for GG award

One of Edmonton’s favourite playwright sons has been nominated for Canada’s top literary award for a third time. Vern Thiessen previously won the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2003 and was also nominated in 2007. Thiessen, a U of A drama grad and former instructor who splits time between Edmonton and New York, is best […]

EDMONTON RADIO: CJSR still ‘alternative’ after all these years

If you’re going to listen to one radio station you can’t stand to listen to all the time, why not let it be CJSR? You could do a lot worse. Because, friends, those lonely days where one single station could sustain you, be your constant friend and companion, where the only good music on the […]

HIP HOP: Socalled the new Moby?

What is it they say about too many cooks in the kitchen? Never mind – because when Josh Dolgin is the head chef, it doesn’t seem to apply. The multi-talented Montreal artist known as Socalled employed 34 guest musicians on his latest solo album “Sleepover,” and came out with a staggeringly diverse offering overflowing with […]